Meaning of Spiritual Experience: Buddha and Tao Te Ching

In the last post, I commented that the resolution of difference in men and women was to be found in true love/compassion. Or for that matter. it is as if any difference as our mind distinguishes A and B (Yin and Yang: dualism; as well as ego's fight for its existence), is to be resolved in oneness- connection with the source at the core of our existence, i.e., true love, or nature's way, Tao, whatever you call IT. When this is realized, our mind ceases its futile effort to solve problem it has created by itself as if in a vacuum. This is awakening, or insight/wisdom, as well as compassion to release any pain and suffering mind creates.  This is beyond the realm of human mind/logic.

So, with regard to limbic system or karma, our fixed mindset, or habitual way of looking at the world, there is no end to the search for solution if it is in the realm of our mind. --- unless, we transcend mind. That is from being caught up in the logic, which is the search for solution through mind's own logic, but as if to see us from the source, be one with the source, or Tao, the Way, way of nature, absolute, or whatever way we call IT. (This search was the process of Buddha's way of enlightenment - as I see it. Also, this process is discussed in the post on Tolle's spiritual experience compared to mine)

Here is my translation from Daisetz Suzuki's book, re: Buddha's  Enlightenment:

When searching for the truth, typically, we start from philosophy. Then, we notice what wise guys said on this subject in the past, noticing that this difficult problem is also what made them wondered or suffered. Buddha did this as well. But this did not help him. By its own nature, philosophy cannot put us back to where before the questions were yet raised. It is the limit of philosophy. It may give a faint view of existence. But most likely, as we try to reach closer, it will fade away. So, Buddha eventually left these people.

Next, he attempted a hard training. For some reason, we generally think that if we restrain our desire from our body, our mind will be cleansed and can see the truth as it is. Yet, such restraining of desire will see self, the one that ask the question of truth, more like an enemy. Then, this enemy is seen as something to conquer, or overcome. And this enemy stands always at where the man having question. No matter how hard this questioner tries his best to defeat the enemy with his all might, the enemy will not be conquered. So far as the self, the questioner, exists, he will create new enemy and have to fight continuously. 

Defeating the enemy does not mean saving our self nor answering the question. This is because self can only exist by having non-self, and this non-self is the enemy. The self is the creator of enemy. The questioner will be a questioner no matter how far he goes. He remains to be the creator of questions.

In the hard training, the questioner is the self. There, the self is confronted to non-self, i.e., enemy. This enemy has to be defeated no matter what. Yet, so far as we have self, there is no way this enemy is defeated. Self cannot exist by itself.  It always try to express the self, prove the power, and desires to have someone to prove that he is that important existence. When self find that there is no others to prove, or to be proud of itself, it loses its self-nature. Restraining one’s own nature is a way of expressing its own self.

One cannot go beyond its own self through restraining one’s desire or to follow the moral disciplines. Unless we go beyond the self, however, we will not find the opportunity to solve the problems that is related to searching our existence. Our self has to be thrown out totally. There should be no trace of conflict between self and non-self.

Buddha realized this point from his own experiences. One day, he tried to raise from sitting but he could not. As he did not have enough food to eat, he was weakened to the point where he could not sustain himself. …. He then thought, "If he who has the question has to die now, he will leave the question unresolved and die." So, in order to search this major problem that encompasses everything, he started to eat and attempted to recover his health and energy.

But, how can he move forward from there? Intellect did not bring solution. Hard training did not help much. He had nothing to do. Yet, he wished to resolve the problem much more than before. If his mind was smaller, and weakened, it may have been crushed under the heavy pressure of this problem.  Being cornered to its extreme, his whole existence responded. He now felt that there was no more questions to ask, and there is no self to fight against the enemy. His self, his intellect, his whole existence was thrown into the question. In other words, he became the question itself. The distinction between questioner and the question, self and non-self, is vanished and one undivided "unknown" was left. In this "unknown,’ he was absorbed.

If we picture the scene in our mind, there was no Buddha left to ask questions, no self to realize the ego, and there was no question responding to the intellect that threatens his existence. There was no sky above his head nor no ground under his feet. If we could stand besides Buddha at that time and be able to look into his existence, what we may have found there would be a big question mark that covers the whole universe. If he had any mind, if we could say so, such was the state of his mind. He was there in such a state for a while. And.. when he looked up the sky, he saw the Venus in the early morning sky. The light of the star went straight into his eyes. This event brought his whole consciousness back to the previous/normal state. There was no question that was so strong, so persistent and caused him suffering left anymore. There was a whole world shining under a new light with new meaning.

(Note: See: http://web.archive.org/web/20030814014304/http://suzaki.has.it/ under the file name: Daisetz Remembered   Also Note: Daisetz Suzuki(1870-1966) dedicated his entire life to practice Buddhism/Zen and share its essence in his own way with the world.)

==

Of course, this is an explanation of Buddha's enlightenment by Daisetz.  Yet, as explained before, I can see what is described here is linked to the process that took place in Tolle (and if I may say so... in myself as well as in Daisetz).  However, I say this; the practice in daily living is not that simple as indicated in the previous post, which means I am yet to clean up my karma, the past conditioning as I move on in my journey.

As mentioned, I went through years of check and balance re: my spiritual experience as Tolle did.  Having done that (as posted in my English and Japanese homepage from 2000 to 2012), I found so amusing and encouraging that many of those who went through this path point to the same "Experience" / "Understanding" without doubt.  

As an example, when you read, Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu - chapter 16, you should, if not now, eventually come to see/experience that the words may look different, yet, the core message is the same:

Empty yourself of everything.

Let the mind rest at peace.

The ten thousand things rise and fall while the Self watches their return.

They grow and flourish and then return to the source.

Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.

The way of nature is unchanging.

Knowing constancy is insight.

Not knowing constancy leads to disaster.

Knowing constancy, the mind is open.

With an open mind, you will be openhearted.

Being openhearted, you will act royally.

Being royal, you will attain the divine.

Being divine, you will be at one with the Tao.

Being at one with the Tao is eternal.

And though the body dies, the Tao will never pass away.

==

Ikkyu, a Zen monk and a poet, said, 

Many paths lead from

The foot of the mountain

But at the peak

We all gaze at the

Single bright moon

This poem is taken from my old English home page (2001)

Meaning of Spiritual Experiences: Lester Levenson

My Aikido friend shared with me his encounter with Lester Levenson.  I had no knowledge of Mr. Levenson, but after 30min of hearing this man's journey in life, I was quite amazed.  Later, I viewed youtube video (3 part series) and confirmed important discovery about he called as "Liberated State" or "ultimate happiness."  I am hopeful that this post may trigger some insight for our heroes on the journey.


Here is his brief background:  The late Lester Levenson after a serious heart attack nearly ended his life. Lester regained his health and attributed his renewed positive outlook to a process of self-inquiry. The process is taught as a practical technique called the Sedona Method, or also called Release Technique.  This is a self-help technique developed by him.

I like his simple message. For example;  "Thou aren't that... you are already that...so just take unnecessary stuff off - till you will find the full realization where there is no more thoughts.  All thoughts are motivated by the ego! Separation makes us do that.. which is desire /ego.  Let go of it."   (Note: My view on this is:  Thoughts has to come from within - as if flowing from the heart, not from ego)  Please also note it is told that Mr. Levenson took full time for four months to get to the core and to realize the above.  Right before that four month, he was given a death sentence by his doctor due to his seriously deteriorated mind and body condition. 

As if to summarize all, in part 4 of the video, he points five characteristics of "The Free State" namely,  Imperturbability, Desirelessness, Effortlessness, Actionlessness, and Witnessing!  He even says, "You won't be disturbed even if you are killed."  (Please note that these expression may be felt as counter intuitive. Yet also note, Tao Te Ching says, "The truth often sounds paradoxical" (78).)

My explanation for each of five are:

-  Imperturbability:  Pointing the core of our existence being absolute, nothing can affect that.  When we sense that (I am that), there we find the eternal peace.  (If we know that everything is impermanent, then "we" are at the point that "something" i.e., "I am" is realizing that!  That, I see, is what Imperturbability is about.)
-  Desirelessness:  Pointing to no self.  If we seek for anything, we cannot be one with what we are seeking for. In Tao te Ching: "Ever desireless, one can see the mystery." (1)
-  Effortlessness:  When nothing is sought (no seeking mind), you are liberated without any effort.  In Tao te Ching: "The Tao of the sage is work without effort." (81)
-  Actionlessness:  So, there is no need for action.  Let it be as it is. In Tao te Ching: "The sage goes about doing nothing." (2)
-  Witnessing:  Simply witness everything happening as it should.  No need to interfere.  Witness however has to be so only with calm and quiet mind.  Or, you can call it as "choiceless observation" (Krishnamurti).  This leads to "I am" or "Imperturbability" as mentioned above.

To characterize "Imperturbability and Witnessing," I coined the term "Mirror Mind" or in Vipassana, this is "Equanimity and Awareness."  I found Desirelessness, Effortlessness, and Actionlessness, support that but bring subtler nuances.  As noted above, only point I would like to add is, we can think but "thoughts has to come from within - as if flowing from the heart, not from our ego."  Yes, thoughts are limiting by its nature but we can use it.  Or, "Listen to the heart, but use the brain."  He is close to Advaida School whereas I seem to take Middle Way as suggested in Mahayana Buddhism although I view that the boundary is vague - as if where you put the emphasis.  Of course, we should be pragmatic and not academic and that the question is for each to answer - in conducting his life.

FYI, Here are some more of his quotes:

"All unhappiness is caused by our trying to be limited, to be an ego. The more we are our Self, the happier we are. We will never be completely happy until we are completely being our Self."

"Every problem is an ego problem. In order to have a problem there has to be an ego-frustration."

"Every time you feel miserable, there is present an excellent opportunity to make a big step forward."

"When one really loves, one can never be hurt"

"Peace is non resistance, complete acceptance, identification with the all, everyone, everything"

"whatever happens to us originates in the mind"

"Truth can be found by a process of eliminating wrong thoughts, which are thoughts of limitation. When all thoughts of limitation are eliminated, what remains is our natural, unlimited, Self."

"There's nothing bad; there's just making errors on the way back Home."

"Don't probe darkness to understand light. Don't dwell on sickness to be healthy. Don't indulge in thoughts of lack to have supply."

Life Profile - 2: How to Use the Tool

If we pay attention to all happenings in life, yet still have a balanced perspective, we may have a right outlook on our life. i.e., what is important and why. We can then learn to act accordingly, and see how we are doing so that we can navigate our life better in a balanced manner. Diligently living like this over time, we may realize how we are expressing who we are and what our life's journey is all about.

Such overall balance of life's activities is assessed by "Life Profile," in which I propose to look into six key items: i.e., work, hobby, relationship, health, finance and living truthfully. We then assess these items by rating Importance (1 to 10) and the level of satisfaction (1 to 10) for each item. (You may add or remove item or subdivide one as you find it fit.)

To move forward with this idea, we can utilize a well known concept called PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) used in Total Quality Management. The idea is to assure continuous improvement in what we do as situation changes. Although this is commonly called PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act), it should start with Check (i.e., check what is going on, or what have happened) then, Act (if OK, keep going, or if not, figure out the reason why). Then, the next step is Plan (develop plan according to the analysis of the situation). After implementation of the plan, which is Do, we check the outcome (Check), and this cycle of PDCA continues. (BTW, If we start with plan without checking what is going on, such plan may be like a dream without foundation. Not necessarily bad, but not recommended because such idea may not reflect bring out the intelligence we need to face the reality.

If you remember, this process may be seen as a sail boat aiming for a destiny with PDCA cycle done every so often (See the post, "Over the Hurdles, and Realize our Dream...") To illustrate what we discussed above, the table below shows an example of Life Profile. In this example, Relationship divided into two categories, i.e., with T (partner) and with others (family members, etc). Note that I used color coding to expose problem to catch our eyes, red indicates there is room for improvement, green is doing well (not shown here). The far right column indicates the relative balance among these items, which is, Importance rating multiplied by Satisfaction rating.

The exhibit below shows the same information shown in a chart form.  There are other ways to show the Life Profile.  For example, with historical trend, spider diagram, etc.  You may use such charts as you prefer or just start with the table.  The idea is to do this every month, three months or every year, but consistency is important.  Of course, what is also critical is to come up with Plans to address areas to improve the performance.  (I may come back to planning later)  For now, I suggest you to take 20-30 min. to do this exercise with calm and quiet mind, and find out how your life is balanced and moving forward.  Simply filling out the table may bring awareness as to how your life is balanced or not, and why (and what needs to be done).

Note:  Although I have not read yet, Clayton Christensen's book,"how will you measure your life?" became a recent best seller, perhaps pointing to the similar concern as I mentioned above.


Note: Since LP has much depth than what is described above, interested reader may explore this by actually applying this in life and gain insight (In conjunction with the idea of PDCA) as you live your life.  Repetition is mother of success.  As riding a bicycle, it takes few turns (few repeated trial) to start to get an idea and possibly a smooth ride.  (Note, any human will encounter many bumps in life.  What is needed is a good sensing/monitoring mechanism and willingness/ability to overcome these bumps so that you lead your life as the master of destiny.  Nobody will do this for you.  You are the master of your own life, you should not be the slave of the situation you are in.  

Meaning of Spiritual Experiences: Eckhart Tolle vs Mine

Just recently, I found the video re: Spiritual experience and teaching of Eckhart Tolle (2004). I have read his books, and saw various videos before.  Yet this 7-part video was very informative especially tied to my similar experience that happened in 2000 and my journey that followed since then.  FYI, here are excerpts of the interview on his experiences with my comments:





Part 1:  His awakening experience - 29 yrs old (video length: 10 min.)

-  It was his 29 yrs old when the major shift happened - He was in state of fear till then
-  "I cannot live myself any longer" - "I" and "myself": is there two or one?  (like Zen Koan)
-  There was no answer in intellectual level - This triggered inner shift
-  I was drawn into voltex of energy
-  "Resist nothing" (I heard the inner voice) - so I gave up.. and I went into nothingness
-  Next morning, everything looked as if seeing them the first time
-  There was "aliveness and peace" - but did not know why

* Like Tolle, I had a similar experience and the journey that followed since the event in 2000.  At the time, I was suffering in worst physical pain (on the 8th day of my 10-day Vipassana meditation retreat).  In the middle of pain, I questioned to myself; "Is this so because I am trying to escape the pain?"  Similar to Tolle's noticing two identities, "I" looked at "myself" having a pain.  As Tolle said, "I" and "myself": is there two or one?, was the last thought, it was the last thought.  Then, I also experienced the massive voltex of energy.  I was a twirl of billions of blight light particles.  I was like plasma myself.  In the report I wrote about this experience, I also said it was like having sex with the universe.  After the experience which lasted perhaps 7~8 min up to 20 min, I felt my body was lifted from the burden I carried in life, and noticed a genuine smile on my face.

As Tolle did in the following years, I also studied the meaning of this experience through various scriptures, and sayings of spiritual teachers very carefully.  The whole intensive investigation is posted in my homepage ( in English till ~2003 and  in Japanese  from 2003)  Out of many findings and confirmation I went through, here is one finding that points to my experience of me and the universe become one as if having sex.  As Tolle mentioned, it was that aliveness that I connected since then.  (Borrowing Tolle's term, the experience I had was to see "me" (ego) trying to resist the pain as having no reality.)

Part 2
-  There was inner peace as background to all experiences, sense perceptions,
even background to my thinking, that they never left me again (This is similar to my feeling of what I call, "Mirror mind" (see the file under the same title in my Japanese Home Page - sorry, written in Japanese)!  Different from Tolle, however, such state went away every now and then although I can get back to that state at moment notice.

-  It took long time to understand and put it into words; started to check with
spiritual teachings, e.g., Buddhism, Christianity ,etc.
-  I could see the truth hiding behind cultural.. interepretations etc. They shed light to what happened to me
(I did the same - taking about 8-10 years to totally convinced.  Yet this is a journey still.)
- For example. "Peace not related to external world"
- "Zen is not about thinking"
- I had peace as I was not thinking much any more
- Useless continuous noise, or thinking, came to an end
(In my case, there are noises/delusions popping up every now and then, but I can see the end/resolution of it fairly soon, e.g., minute to hours, usually)
-  I could still use thinking when I need it
(In my book Results from the Heart, I wrote; "Use the brain,listen to the heart, live with the mission.")
-  Long stretch of no thought was wonderful inner peace
-  Realized that inner peace was there before but was covered up (3.16)
-  Then this became the spiritual teaching
-  People have within themselves what they are looking for outside
(This corresponds to :"If you seek for it, you will not find it." - Yuima sutra)
(Or, as my experience proves it, I can say this way, "If you try to avoid it (e.g., in this case suffering, not enlightenment/realization), you cannot.")
-  [The answer] comes only when there is inner alignment with now, or LIFE itself (6.15)
(This is the primary I mentioned before, i.e., the connection to the heart)


Here are my brief summary: On my spiritual experience:
-  Past Karma may not dissapear easily (It took years to accumulate)
-  Being in present will expose problems and staying there will bring insight (e.g., eliminate delusion/suffering)
-  Illusionary nature of self/ego cannot be recognized by thinking.  (It is to be recognized by, say, the third eye, or awakened mind's eye)
-  Continuous practice of this will eradicate many problems in life
-  There are infinite ways to move on with our life (thus, be liberated)
-  From the beginning to the end, the nature (the law, or God if you like) will always take care of itself

How may we proceed in life? (Again, my summary):
-  We need to have (psychological) "condition" for the breakthrough to take place.
-  Pain/suffering (physical or mental) is a good teacher (so far as we can see through it - by observing what is really happening)
-  Being in presence, we live in this dualistic world - with mirror mind (This is to transcend the paradox of me and ME)
-  We can appreciate life, this existence because of the fact that we are human who can transcend the suffering.
-  Be conscious of unconscious.  (Yes, we can.  Why?  Because we came from there and we are there when awakened.  Fortunate or unfortunate, this paradox is to be transcended.  Intellect alone cannot do the job.)

Note: It was told that Tolle reduced mental activity by 80% after that experience.  In my case, the answer is, it depends...  I think when it is needed especially in writing but I am often in the state of non-thinking/trans-like.  Yet, sad memories and desire pops up and I go through cleaning these taking seconds, to hours sometimes, perhaps.  Bottom line, I cannot say:  Useless continuous noise, or thinking, came to an end as he did.  But I am not unhappy about it as "I" know the way out - by practicing silent observation of what is going on with the calm and quiet mind - I call it mirror mind.